Lighting Shabbos Candles in an Already-Illuminated Room
Question: Does it matter whether or not the electric lights in the dining room are off or on at the time the Shabbos candles are lit?
Discussion: Contemporary Poskim debate this issue.[i] Some question the custom of lighting candles when the electric lights are on, since the candles are not adding any more light to the room. In their opinion, reciting the blessing over candles that are lit in a brightly illuminated room may be a berachah in vain. Other Poskim dismiss that argument, maintaining that since the candles are kindled in honor of Shabbos and add a measure of festivity and ambiance to the Shabbos table, the candle-lighting is significant enough to warrant the recitation of a berachah.
In order to fulfill this mitzvah properly and to avoid a possible berachah in vain, it is recommended that either the husband or the wife turn off the electric lights in the dining room before the candles are lit, and then the wife should turn them on again in honor of Shabbos right before she lights the candles. This way, the blessing which the wife recites over the candles will cover the electric lights as well.[ii]
[i] See the various views in Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim V, 20:30; Rav S.Z. Auerbach (cited in Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 43, footnotes 166 and 171); Shulchan Shlomo, addendum to I, pg. 20; Divrei Yatziv, Orach Chaim 120; Az Nidberu III, 2; Chut Shani IV, pp. 65-66.
[ii] This was the custom in the homes of a number of prominent Poskim: Rav M. Feinstein (The Radiance of Shabbos, pg. 20); Rav Y. Kamenetsky (Ko Somar Leveis Yaakov, pg. 50), who turned on the electricity after his wife lit the candles but before she recited the blessing; Rav S.Z. Auerbach (after his wife's passing) turned off the lights, lit the candles and then turned on the lights (reported by his grandson in Kol HaTorah, XL, pg. 16). See also Be’er Moshe V, 32, Az Nidberu I, 79:9, III, 2 and Ashrei Ha‘ish, Shabbos 6:32 for a concurring opinion.